urge parliamentary scrutiny of the state within a state of the Khakis, especially the dreaded spy agency (DGFI). The interference of the Khakis into state politics will once again jeopardize institutionalization of elective democracy, good governance and secularism. The rogues fear social justice activists, critics, politicians and journalists too - Joy Manush!

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Bangladesh's watershed war crimes moment

SABIR MUSTAFA

The
International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh has delivered its first
verdict, sentencing a former Islamist leader to death for crimes against
humanity.

Abul Kalam Azad,
a former leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, was found guilty in absentia on
eight charges.

Tribunals set
up nearly three years ago are trying alleged war crimes committed during the
country's independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

The first
verdict signals a major triumph for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has made
prosecution of 1971 war crimes a key goal of her government.

From the
beginning the tribunals have faced internal scepticism, as well international
concerns expressed by such groups as Human Rights Watch.

Late last year
the tribunal was shaken by newspaper revelations which led to the resignation
of the presiding judge of one of the two courts.

But the government was quick to appoint a new judge, and the tribunals
pressed ahead with proceedings, leading to Monday's first verdict.

Watershed moment

Mr Azad, who had gained fame in recent years as a television presenter
of Islamic programmes, was accused of murder, rape, torture, arson and looting
- mostly against members of the Hindu community in the central district of
Faridpur.

He went on the run in April last year and is thought to be in Pakistan.

In 1971, he was a junior leader in Jamaat's student wing and a member of
the Razakar Bahini, an auxiliary force set up to help the Pakistan army
by rooting out local resistance.

The Razakars were notorious for their operations targeting Hindus as
well as civilians suspected of being sympathetic towards Bengali nationalists.

The guilty verdict marks a watershed in Bangladesh's tortuous history,
where for 40 years families of victims have campaigned relentlessly to bring the
perpetrators to justice.

Bangladesh says up to
three million people died during the war, mostly in massacres by the Pakistan army
and their local Islamist allies, the Razakar and Al-Badr forces.

Following Indian intervention in December 1971, more than 200 Bengali
intellectuals, doctors and engineers were kidnapped and murdered by the shadowy
Al-Badr.

Bangladesh's largest
Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, is alleged to have been behind the
creation of Al-Badr, providing it with leadership, recruits and inspiration.

Jamaat's leader at the time, Ghulam Azam, is alleged to have inspired
the killing of the intellectuals which took place just days before the Pakistan army
surrendered to Indian and Bangladeshi forces. He rejects the allegations.

Bangladesh was unable to put on trial Pakistani officers accused of war
crimes as they were released as part of a broader peace deal between Delhi and
Islamabad.

But the question of their local collaborators and their role in the
genocide remained unresolved.

Fractious politics

Since 2011, six top Jamaat leaders, including Ghulam Azam who is now in
his nineties, have been in jail, facing various charges of crimes against
humanity.

Most observers in Bangladesh
agree that there is widespread public support for the trials, which kicked off
in 2010 when the first tribunal was set up.

But the fractious and divisive nature of the country's politics was
exposed once again, when major parties failed to close ranks even when dealing
with an issue as emotive as trials of war crimes.

While the ruling Awami League has made the trials one of its key goals,
the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP has been less forthcoming.

The BNP has maintained an electoral alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami
since 2001 and many in the party feel the alliance gives them their best chance
of returning to power.

But the BNP is unable to oppose the trials.

The war of liberation and what Bangladeshis term "the
genocide" of 1971 remain powerful and emotive issues in the public psyche.

The BNP's tactic has been to support the need to bring perpetrators of
war crimes to justice, with a warning that the trials should not be used
against political opponents.

The warning has as much to do with protecting some of its own leaders
who may be implicated, as to put Jamaat minds at rest.

One senior BNP leader, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury is already in jail.
He denies a number of charges.

Skype 'scandal'

The tribunal itself suffered a set-back last month, when hours of
conversation over Skype between one of its presiding judges and a
Brussels-based lawyer were revealed in the press.

The exposure came just days before the court was due to deliver the
verdict in the trial of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a top Jamaat leader and one of
the country's most charismatic and controversial Islamic preachers.

Defence lawyers claimed the judge had acted improperly and the
conversation showed the accused could not expect a fair trial.

The judge swiftly resigned, triggering calls for the trial of Mr Sayeedi
to be recommenced from the beginning.

The tribunal's new presiding judge rejected the calls for retrial, but
agreed to have the two legal teams make their final submissions again.

Monday's verdict goes some way to reassure the public that the trial
process has not lost its way.

It is important for both the tribunals and the government to demonstrate
such resolve, as the trials have already taken on an international dimension.

Recently, Turkish President Abdullah Gul wrote to his Bangladeshi
counterpart, calling on him not to put Ghulam Azam to death if he is found
guilty.

The letter triggered protests across the country, as many people
regarded it as a flagrant interference in Bangladesh's judicial process.

Observers now expect the verdicts in the cases of senior Jamaat-e-Islami
leaders such as Mr Sayeedi and Mr Azam to follow rapidly.